At Empty Netters, a blog on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s website, Seth Rorabaugh looks at the career of Arron Asham as a Penguin.

He writes that it was looked at as a puzzling move when the Penguins signed Asham, because they had Matt Cooke, but in the end, Asham proved to be a solid player for the Pens “Asham started as a question mark with the Penguins when he signed as a free agent. Over time, he became a surprising source of offense and ultimately served as the unquestioned enforcer who had his teammates’ back.”

He notes that unofficially Asham had a 10-1-3 record in fights as a Penguin.

On what he can bring to the Rangers, Asham said earlier in the summer, “I’m still capable of going out there and giving you a good 10 or 12 minutes and contributing offensively. I’ll fight when the team needs me to. I haven’t lost much of the fighting skills.”

Adam Rotter: Asham has the kind of reputation where you hate him if he is playing your team but you love him if he is on your team. Asham is going to have to endear himself to the fan base against his former teams in the division. When the bell rings, Asham needs to be ready against the Flyers, Penguins, Devils and Islanders. He is a fourth liner but replacing a fan-favorite in Brandon Prust, so he will have his work cut out for him.